Pissouri, Cyprus - cool and rainy

As forecast, it was grey, windy and rainy today. A good day for staying indoors and taking it easy.

This was the view at 8am this morning. Surprisingly dark and splashes of sun reflecting off the sea,

I spent the morning with coffee, breakfast, scrolling through facebook, CBC and playing games on the computer.

These are photos of Oleander in bloom. I took them yesterday. I have no idea why I didn't post them yesterday.

None of the seeds I planted germinated except the one tomato that I posted a photo of before. It is still alive but not happy with the intense sun, heat and a tendency for Squeak to use the plant container as a litter box! But the celery, parsnip top and carrot top are all greening up well. I will use them in salads before I leave and will never throw out a celery base again without growing more celery from it.

Next photo to be painted. From January, the view from the great hall, museum, Temple of Aphrodite, Kouklia.

The perspective wasn't quite right on the last painting so I did a more detailed sketch for this one

and made a start on it.

Guest Photographer: Nicola 

Her next project

Pissouri, Cyprus - coming home?

Yesterday I received an e-mail form the Canadian Consulate that included a list of 10 flights that are leaving in the next week. The flights that I had booked for May 2 on British Airways, had both been cancelled the day before. I have requested the flight to London Heathrow on April 28 and my travel agent is working on finding a hotel and a flight the following day to Toronto. This required clarification regarding whether I could stay overnight in London. The Cyrpus Canadian Consulate contacted the British High Commission for clarification and turns out I can stay over. I have yet to be contacted by Aegean Airlines so have not yet been confirmed or paid for the flight, but I am operating as if I am leaving on April 28.
I have been living here for nearly 4 months now so I have quite a bit of work to do, making sure everything is where it was when I arrived, tidying, cleaning, packing and doing a couple of things that Mick has asked me to do before Annie's House gets "mothballed" for a while.

Rain was in the forecast for today but I got out for a bit of a wander, around the neighbourhood, before it started late in the afternoon. First we got thunder and then a steady, soaking rain that will help the gardens.

Although the wild flowers have mostly died off, the garden flowers are doing very well.

The roses in #4, Nikki's, garden

are all in bud

or in flower.

Interesting flower in #5's garden.

There is a Hibiscus in the garden of #2, a beautiful Hibiscus hedge between #4 and #5 and

a huge bush at #6.

The beautiful scent of the Orange trees has gone but now the oranges are growing.

The Bougainvillea behind Kay and Jimmy's is a mass of flowers.

Jimmy pointed this shrub out to me yesterday, curious as to what it was.

I told him that it looked like the Bottle Brush Bush (say that 5 times fast!) that I had seen in California.

Turns out that's what it is. Originally from Australia and drought resistant once established.

The bottlebrush tree, despite its name, is actually a shrub. It is most often grown as a large shrub or shaped into a small tree with particular pruning. The common name of bottlebrush refers to the plant’s blooms, which are a spiked flower sitting at the very end of a stem, looking remarkably like a brush used to clean bottles or jars. They can be quite large, reaching up to 12 inches long in some species. Made up of many individual blossoms, these flowers are typically produced in various shades of red, and are a good way to attract hummingbirds, butterflies, and other wildlife. from greenandvibrant.com

 Further on, the fruit's a bit of a funny shape but it looks like an apple tree.

In the courtyard at Annie's House the Bougainvillea is flowering

and the grapevine

is going great guns.

Painting proceeded this morning

and this afternoon.

Guest Photographer: Kiyo

I'm not sure if it is a butterfly or a moth

What is the difference between a moth and a butterfly? ... Butterflies usually rest with their wings closed, while moths rest with their wings open. Butterflies have long, thin antenna, while moths have shorter feathery antennas. Butterflies generally gather food during the day while moths are seen more at nighttime. from sciencebob.com

I'm guessing it is a moth but it has rather long antenna. No, I looked him up, he is a Mourning Cloak Butterfly. Usually the first butterfly seen in the spring and it likes to live in hardwood forests. That explains how Kiyo got this picture at her cottage recently.

Pissouri, Cyprus - Prickly walk

I woke to warm, windy and thinly overcast. Rain is in the forecast for this evening and tomorrow. I had woken early so decided to walk right after coffee and breakfast. Called Jenny and asked if Pippa would like to come out and play.
Pippa and I were off by about 11:15.

She leaps when I arrive, pulls for the first 5 minutes and then settles. Once off the leash she likes to explore but never goes far away.

It was hazy, not a good day for photos of the views. Mind you I have done this walk enough times that I don't see the point of more photos of the same views.

Very few flowers now and the foliage is starting to dry out.

In fact the only things that seem to be thriving, are prickly things.

Up on the headland the bushes look like a field of green cushions but a closer look

reveals how unfriendly they are.

Pippa scared up a grouse and went diving off into the undergrowth, nose down.

She had no luck and came out limping

and I took numerous little burrs out of her pads.

Happy now.

I noticed that the dieing leaves of one particular plant seems to be populated by snails.

More prickles.

Heading home.

It is warm enough to be walking in shorts

but I am walking in pants still to save my legs from getting scratched up. We walked for about and hour and a half, about 8,000 steps.

I delivered Pippa back and then went into the garden next to John and Jenny's to do some orange scrumping. These

and these, were growing in among the ivy.

This is the next picture I am going to try and paint

and this is my start. I am taking some artistic license with it.

Pissouri, Cyprus - staying close to home

Yesterday I was home all day and the big excitement for today was grocery shopping.

Yesterday I had one last go at the goat. I toned down his hair, shortened his neck and decided that was as good as he was going to get.

Did another YouTube painting tutorial

Walks, the last couple of days, have been just around the block. I think this is Oleander, growing at the top of the stairs behind Annie's House.

I'll have to watch for it opening up.

The walkway behind Annie's house is lined with a bank of this succulent that is now in bloom.

The centres of the flowers look like little starfish.

Cameron, in #4, went grocery shopping yesterday and when he returned, he bought me over a nice bottle of wine (it had a cork!), to thank me for looking after his garden.

Today I drove down to the road below the village and put my recycling in all the appropriate bins. I then lined up outside the Pharmacy (only 3 people in at a time). As well as my medication for acid reflux I also bought masks and small containers of hand sanitizer, prepared in case I get to fly home next week. There was no lineup at the grocery store so I was in and out quite fast, not needing much. Then it was off to the gas station so I could leave the car full for Bodil.

I drove back through Pissouri Bay just to have a bit of a "road trip". Lovely to see the grape vines looking luxurious. It doesn't take much to amuse me now that my world has shrunk.

Another painting exercise.

My Trivia testing with Chris took longer than usual because we were joined by her friend Bronte, from Scotland. She had worked at Christine's cafe and it was lovely to see her and talk to her again.

Guest photographer: Jimmy

When I sat in the garden with Kay, back in February, Jimmy had told me the story of spraying his roses with Roundup, mistaking it for an insecticide. They didn't look great.

The title of the e-mail when he sent me these pictures was "Roundup's the best"